THIS’LL CAP IT ALL FOR DAVIS
Tying Shilton record huge moment for Irish captain
NORTHERN IRELAND captain Steven Davis can barely believe he will equal Peter Shilton’s record as Britain’s most-capped player tonight.
Davis will move level with Shilton on 125 appearances when he leads the Irish out in their opening World Cup qualifier against Italy in Parma.
“It’s quite incredible to be in that position,” said the Rangers midfielder.
“It won’t be something I will be thinking about going into the game.
“It’s a by-product of the match because the most important thing is to try and get off to a positive start.
“Breaking the Northern Ireland record was huge, on a personal level.
“But to be able to get the British one, that’s something I will look back on with great pride.” Davis, 36, who has just signed a contract extension to keep him at Ibrox next season, is set to break the record in Sunday’s friendly against the USA or Wednesday’s World Cup qualifier against Bulgaria.
“I’m feeling good and I’ve been enjoying my football at Rangers,” said the former Southampton star.
“The team has been playing well and I want to continue playing as well as I can.”
Northern Ireland manager Ian Baraclough says Davis’s final caps total will stand for years.
“It would be superb for him to set a new record and it’ll take some beating,” said Baraclough. “Hopefully he extends that record well beyond these next two games.”
Davis won his first cap under Lawrie Sanchez in 2005 and Baraclough says he is hugely respected by his team-mates.
“Such is Steve’s character, he just gets on with his job and his role,” said Baraclough.
“He goes about things quietly. When he comes down for meetings or dinner, he’s very unassuming.
“He’s not loud, he’s not brash but there’s a calmness and assurance about him everyone feeds off.” Baraclough says his players should relish the chance of writing their names in folklore by getting a result against Roberto Mancini’s Azzurri.
He said: “I’m always saying to the players about rewriting history and being the next group of players spoken about in the very highest esteem.”
ITALY (probable): Donnarumma; Emerson, Bonucci, Bastoni, Florenzi;
Locatelli, Verratti, Barella;
Insigne, Immobile, Chiesa.
NORTHERN IRELAND
(probable): PeacockFarrell; Dallas, Cathcart,
J Evans, Lewis; Saville,
McNair, Davis, C Evans;
Lafferty, Magennis.